When the Pharaohs Ruled Egypt

We normally take our trips in our everyday world of the present, but this time we're going to travel to ancient Egypt and visit the pharaohs. The Egyptians and their pharaohs have given modern-day civilization things to ponder on with the pyramids being the central point of conversation. There are still so many unanswered questions about how they accomplished their magnificent building projects and how they were able to be so precise in their calculations. However, that is not all that they make us scratch our heads about.

Although the pharaohs reigned for thousands of years, they ultimately lost their powers to rule. Listed below are some of the things they did that might have been a huge factor in their loss of power.

Mummy of Ahmose-Sitkamose, one of the Great Royal Wives of pharaoh Ahmose, found in DB320. | Source

Some of the Pharaohs' Evil and Stinky Practices

Some of the pharaohs kept flies away from themselves by having their slaves coated with honey. Not only was the honey sticky and the flies very annoying, the bees and wasps were also drawn to the sweet nectar.

The Egyptians had a sport where contenders knocked other contenders out of boats in crocodile-infested waters. If they weren't immediately killed by a crocodile, they usually drowned.

Some forced their women to use crocodile dung as a contraceptive. One thing is for sure; it kept any man, who didn't have a smelling problem away.

The mummified head of Egyptian pharaoh King Ahmose I. | Source

The Pharaoh's Crocodiles

The Egyptian Pharaohs believed Sobek, a mythical man with the head of a crocodile was a god, and they worshiped him to receive his protection, strength, fertility, and rebirth. They believed he was the creator of the Nile River.

Because of this belief, the Nile crocodiles were considered guardians to the pharaohs and high priests of Egypt. Many of the creatures were exalted by the Egyptians, even though they feared them.

Crocodile mummy from ancient Egypt | Source

First Known Use of Organized Labor

The first known use of organized labor was created by the pharaohs. It was very apparent in the building of the pyramids. This process of organized labor was once believed to be through the use of slaves brought together by the pharaohs, but it is believed by some now that they were built by paid laborers. This was announced by Egypt's chief archaeologist, Zahi Hawass. He provided the following evidence to substantiate his claim.

He said the builders were skilled workers from poor families but were builders who came from poor families and were respected for their work. The workers who died during the construction of the pyramids were buried in tombs near the sacred pyramids.

Hawass further stated their burials close to the pyramids and the burial preparations for the afterlife would not have been done for slaves. He said they were surrounded by jars that were once filled with supplies for use in the afterlife.

I am sure that many others would respond to this with the assumption that the corpses found in the graves were paid, skilled laborers, but their responsibilities were to see that slaves carried out their work properly.

Mummy of Ahmose-Sitkamose, one of the Great Royal Wives of pharaoh Ahmose, found in DB320. | Source

The Ancient Egyptians Were Inventors

Although there were some pretty awful practices perpetrated by the pharaohs, there were some greatly significant inventions that came out of ancient Egypt. Here are some of them:

Papyrus Sheets

Black Ink

The Ox-drawn Plough

The Sickle

Irrigation

The Calendar

Clocks

The Police

Surgical Instruments

Cosmetic Makeup

Mummification

Pyramids

The Curse of King Tut

We have all heard about the "Curse of King Tut," and how it claimed the lives of at least people who were associated with the discovery of his tomb or involved in the examination of the pharaoh, King Tutankhamun, himself. However, the truth is, the curse was fabricated and even printed in a newspaper, with the following inscription, "They who enter this sacred tomb shall swift be visited by wings of death." There is no record of this phrase anywhere in the report on the tomb.

Lady Evelyn Herbert was Lord Carnarvon's daughter and had actually been listed in some reports as being the first person to enter Tut's burial chamber because she was small enough to squeeze through the narrow leading to it. She died on January 31, 1980, at the age of 78; 57 years after the chamber was discovered.

Howard Carter, Lord Carnarvon and his daughter Lady Evelyn Herbert at the steps leading to the newly discovered tomb of Tutankhamen, November 1922. | Source

The End of the Pharaohs' Reign

Everything must come to an end, including the reign of the pharaohs. The last native Pharaoh, Nectanebo II was defeated by an army led by Artaxerxes III in 343 BC. There were some others that claimed the title pharaoh, but they were not Egyptian natives.

Be sure to watch the short video in this article, titled "Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs....in five minutes or less."

Comments

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AUTHOR

Gerry Glenn Jones

21 months agofrom Somerville, Tennessee

Thank you, I still believe that slave labor was used, even though some believe they were hires. I believe the hired, skilled laborers were like foremen over the unskilled slaves, and they were the ones buried near the pyramids.

Pamela Oglesby

21 months agofrom Sunny Florida

I have always been fascinated by the pyramids in Egypt, ot that I have actually been there. I didn't know about all the cruel practices, but just to get the pyramids built had to have killed some people.

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